While the process of selecting the top prospects was ultimately subjective, I focused primarily on legitimate prospects who performed well relative to their age, level and experience in pro ball. In short, the younger a player was relative to the other players in his league -- especially when compared just to the players in his league with a chance to have some impact in the majors -- the more impressed I was with a strong performance.

The primary criterion here is performance as prospects, while still in the minors, because so many top prospects ended up in the majors this summer, performance I didn't count toward this list.

With that, here is my overall Prospect of the Year for 2017, as well as several other players who had outstanding seasons and deserved notice. I also gave a separate award to the 2017 draftee who had the best pro debut, as well as noted a handful of runners-up in that category.

2017 Prospect of the Year

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